1962 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games

The official pass for the 1962 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games

It was decided to hold the games in Perth because the city was to host the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and Royal Perth Hospital had a well developed spinal unit that could support paraplegic athletes.[1] The Commonwealth Paraplegic Games were held before the main Games as to not impact on this event and provide the opportunity for athletes to stay on for the main Games.[3]

The Royal Perth Hospital board of management were the official sponsors of the event and established an organising committee in 1959.[4] The Australian Paraplegic Council was not formed until February 1962.[4] The main members of the organising committee were Hugh Leslie (executive chairman), George Bedbrook (general secretary) and M.R. Fathers (secretary).[1] The appointment of Hugh Leslie, a leg amputee, as chairman was important due to his influence as a member of the Parliament of Australia, his previous experience with paraplegic sporting teams and as a champion of people with a disability.[2]

The organising committee paid for all costs incurred in Australia to participating countries.[1] They were only required to pay their transport and stop over costs to and from Australia.[1] Other Australian states were consulted and requested to provide funding of A£9,250.[1] The specific state funding quotas were £2,500 for Victoria, £2,500 for New South Wales, £2,600 for Western Australia, £1,000 for Queensland and £450 for South Australia.[1] There was a concern as to not impact on the fundraising required by the Commonwealth Games appeal.[4] Several reports of the games highlight the importance of large spectator attendance and 'passing the hat' around in the fundraising efforts.[2] The total cost at the games was £11,717 with a surplus of £2,089.[1]

The original plan was to hold the games at the Shenton Park Annexe of Royal Perth Hospital but this was abandoned due to the need for temporary buildings. The Royal Agricultural Showground in the suburb of Claremont was used as it had an oval and buildings for accommodation and events. A major advantage of the venue was that all facilities were on one level. There was no suitable facility for basketball and after much debate a wooden court was laid on a sand foundation in front of the main grandstand. Beatty Park was used for swimming events.[1]

Pamela McCarthy, one of India's two athletes, made the following comment on the showground facilities: "This communal living was ideal for getting to know one and another and for making friends; every conceivable facility was provided at the Showgrounds  – such as television lounge, a shop, post office, bank, laundry and even a ladies hairdresser."[5]

The organising committee decided at the outset that transport would be a major issue and ultimately reflect on the success of the games.[1] The decision to locate most of the events and accommodation at the showgrounds reduced many of the issues. Car companies in Perth made cars available and volunteer drivers assisted in taking athletes and officials around Perth, particularly to Beatty Park.[1] The biggest issue was encountered by teams from the United Kingdom that had to travel 20,000 miles (32,000 km). A total of 57 athletes and 23 escorts travelled from the United Kingdom in a chartered Caledonian Airways plane at the cost of GB£18,500.[1] The long flight required refuelling in Bahrain and a stop over in Colombo, Ceylon. Health checks such as measuring legs and ankles for swelling were undertaken during the flight to Perth and back home.

A major logistical effort was required to transport the 80 member team to the Showgrounds on arrival at Perth airport. Royal Perth Hospital's special coach, a Red Cross bus, private cars and a truck to carry wheelchairs were used.[4]

The flag was the games emblem of a javelin thrower in a wheelchair with a background outline of the flag of Australia on a flagpole in a slight breeze.[1] Medals had one side with the games emblem and the reverse side name of sport with room for engraving. Badges were given to each competitor and official with the aims of identification and access to the dining hall.[1] The badge also became a memento of the games.[1]

A total of 89 athletes from nine countries competed.[1] The countries represented and their allocated colours were: England (dark blue), India (light green), New Zealand (pink), Northern Ireland (dark green), Rhodesia (light blue), Scotland (black), Singapore (red), Wales (white) and Australia (gold).[6] The only major Commonwealth country not represented was Canada, which decided not to attend.[1]

Many of the athletes competed in several sports because each country selected their team based on versatility of sporting ability to reduce their team size and costs.[1]

Country	Athletes
Australia 24 Athletes	Men – M. Bazeley, Frank Ponta, Bruno Moretti, Ross Sutton, John 'Jimmy' Newton, Gary Hooper, Bruce Thwaite, Bill Mather-Brown, Vic Renalson, R. Maxwell, D. Tinsley, Chris O'Brien, Alan Yeomans, Don Watts, J. Gidney, Roger Cockerill, Kevin Cunningham, John Turich, John Rein, Alan Robertson (Captain), G. Coombes. Women – Lorraine Dodd, Margaret Ross, Daphne Ceeney
England 31 Athletes	Men – Richard (Dick) Hollick, Anthony (Tony) Potter, Stefan Gawanick, R. Foster, T. Moran, Dick Thompson, J. Redgewick, F. Crowder, M. Shelton, John Buck, J. Chilcott, J. Thompson, T. Palmer, R. Rowe, J. Gibson, R. Scott, B. Dickinson, Peter McCranor, D. Pickering. Women – Sally Haynes, Janet Laughton, A. Masson, Lady Susan Masham, Shelagh Jones, Gwen. Buck, Margaret Maughan, V. Forder, Daisy Flint, Marion Edwards, P. Foulds
Scotland 15 Athletes[7]	Men – B. Hunt, Jimmy Laird, J.G. Robertson, Alastair Shields, T. Guthrie, N. Macdonald, John Robertson, J. Sloway, P. Stanton, J. Whitefield, J. Hendry, I. Niblo, J. Robinson. Women – M. Taylor, R. Harvey
Wales 9 Athletes	Men – George Cockeram, Dudley Phillips, D. Winters, O. Hughes, E. Lidster, F. Barnes, L. Walker, T. Smart. Women – Gaynor Harry
Rhodesia 4 Athletes	Men – George Mann, L. Manson Bishop. Women – Lynne Gilchrist, Margaret Harriman
India 2 Athletes	Men – Blavant V. Shah – listed in programme but not mentioned in wheelpast. Women – Pamela McCarthy
New Zealand 2 Athletes	Men – Pompi Heremaia, Wilf Martin
Northern Ireland 2 Athletes	Men – Raymond Deans. Women – Pat Vizard
Singapore 1 Athlete	Men – Abdul Wahid bin Baba

Source: Official Programme.[6] Approximately 40 attendants assisted the teams.[5]

There were fourteen events – archery, dartchery, javelin throw, precision javelin, club throw, shot put, swimming, weightlifting, pentathlon, fencing, snooker, basketball and table tennis.

Medal table[1][5]

Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Australia	38	29	23	90
England	30	41	19	90
Rhodesia	15	3	5	23
Scotland	2	10	4	16
New Zealand	2	0	0	2
Wales	1	0	1	2
India	1	0	2	3
Singapore	0	0	0	0
Northern Ireland	0	0	0	0
Total	89	83	54	226

Not all events awarded silver and bronze medals due to insufficient competitors.

Seven awards were presented during the games that reflected sporting excellence and personal endeavour.

• Lorraine Dodd from Australia was presented the Ben Richter Award for "the physically handicapped person to have made the best effort to rehabilitate himself or herself".[5]
• Australia won the Royal Perth Hospital Paraplegic Unit Trophy for the winning country.[1][2][6]
• Singapore and Northern Ireland were awarded the Special Merit Award; both countries failed to win a medal.
• Rhodesia won the Best Team Performance, with 15 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze medals with four team members.[2]
• Dick Thompson from England and Kevin Cunningham won the Australian Paraplegic Council Trophy for winning pentathlon events.[2]
• George Mann from Rhodesia won the trophy for the performance based on degree of physical disability. This trophy was donated by World Rehabilitation Fund in New York.[2]
• The Australian Basketball team won the Gordon Gooch Trophy. Gooch was the games Patron.[6]

Reflections from athletes and officials provide an insight into the value of this inaugural event. Bill Mather-Brown, an Australian athlete, said "The 1962 Games was the first time I had been asked for an autograph. We regarded it as a compliment. We were mobbed, especially at the swimming pool. Sometimes we were not sure people really wanted our signature or were just being polite and wanted us to feel good".[8]

John Buck, an English athlete, said this about his reason for attending the games: "I had been in Perth during the war years serving as an engine room artificer on H.M. submarine Thule and had the misfortune to pick up one of those endearing Australian bugs which left me in a rather poor state of health (e.g. a paraplegic)". He wanted to go back to Perth to see the Stitt family who looked after him in Perth.[9]

Bill Elson, an English support official, commented on the large swimming crowds " For many, this must have been a first introduction to swimming by the paralysed, and I felt that many were wondering whether paralysed persons could swim 50 metres – how many would fail to make the distance and it was all just a stunt to enlist their sympathies and raise money". The crowd's thunderous applause made the official more comfortable about the event.[10]

Gaynor Harry, an athlete from Wales, wrote "Then was the moment to think of the fabulous organization that went into the games, from start to finish there wasn't a hitch. If we needed a postage stamp, that was easy. If licking the back of it had given us a thirst for iced water, that was easy too. The highest tribute that can be paid is that it all appeared so effortless, as though it all just happened".[11]

Richard Hollick, an athlete from England, highlighted the importance of the games in self-development " Not only do we enjoy ourselves but we also learnt more about adapting ourselves than we probably normally learn in a year". Many athletes had to travel large distances to attend the games.[12]

Shelagh Jones, an athlete from England, wrote of the nature of competition " As the various sports on the program got under way, more and more we realised a full-blooded fight was on. The swimming, fencing and field events arrived at the top of the sportscard in next-to-no-time and in these games we found success and failure, humour and disappointment, laughter and tears. Yet within this tiny cross section of life I shall never forget the honour and privilege of mounting the rostrum to collect a 'gold' for England."[13]

These Games raised the profile of paraplegic (spinal cord and polio) athletes in Australia, particularly Western Australia. The spectator attendance amazed leading officials such as Ludwig Guttmann, the founder of the Stoke Mandeville Games. He commented that the attendance was the best he had seen at any paraplegic sports event in the world.[4] The games highlighted the versatility of the athletes with many winning medals in different sports. It was noted that generally the standard of performance was below that of the Stoke Mandeville Games; however there were several outstanding performers including Vic Renalson, Bill Mather-Brown, Lorraine Dodd, M. Bazeley, Lynne Gilchrist and R. Scott who broke records in their events.[2] A film of the games was made.[14]

Several oral histories are available online from Australian athletes who competed at the games.

• Kevin Cunningham interviewed by Ian Jobling in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2011
• Daphne Hilton (nee Ceeney) interviewed by Robin Poke in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2010
• Gary Hooper interviewed by Rob Willis in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2010
• Frank Ponta interviewed by Robin Poke in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Libraty of Australia, 2010
• Bill Mather-Brown interviewed by Robin Poke in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2010
• Bruno Moretti interviewed by Nikki Henningham in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2010
• Chris O'Brien interviewed by Ian Jobling in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia,2011